1. Press Mode. Make sure All the listings on the far left are darkened. Press Enter, then Press Quit (2nd mode)

2. Press 2nd y= (Stat plot). Make sure all plots are set to OFF (except 5, keep ON). Press Enter, then Press Clear

3. Press 2nd window to set up your table (Table Set). Keep TblStart=1 & Tbl at t=1, Indpnt at ASK, Depend at AUTO. Press enter, then Press Quit (2nd mode).

4. Your table is now set. Keep this setting for entire course.

5. Now you can enter an equation of a function into y= (top left) to get values of y at any x desired. If there is another equation or expression visible after any = sign, press clear to eliminate them. Try it with y=x². To do this, press button under link, x, followed by the symbol ^ then 2. That will raise x to the 2 power. That caret symbol is the power button.

6. After coding in the equation, go to TABLE (2nd graph). You will see two columns, one for X and Y. It's not unusual to see other x's and y's in your table. If so, ignore them.

Entering any x will show the value of Y in the 2nd column directly to its right. As you change the x's you'll see their y-values. Each set of values, (x,y) will give a point on the curve.

7. To graph the function, adjust the viewing window first by pressing WINDOW. Decide by indicating X= [Xmin, Xmax], Y=[Ymin,Ymax]. Use 1 for Xscl, Yscl, & Xres. The standard viewing window is X= [-10;10] and Y= [-10;10]. This may have to be adjusted to get a friendly view of the curve. In many cases, inserting different values of x and looking at the y-values on the table will give you a good idea how to set-up the Ymin and Ymax for your window.

Note: If only interested in a friendly viewing graph, press ZOOM, scroll down to 0: ZoomFit, press enter. To view the size of that window, press window to view. This could save you much time compared to experimenting with the window sizes. In some cases, you'll need to press Zoom in or Zoom out to view the graph.

8. If pressing Clear does not clear your window, use Quit (2nd mode) to clear your window. In many cases, pressing Clear only clears your entry value in the window not the window itself.

9. If your calculator gives incorrect values or seems to malfunction, reset it by Pressing 2nd MEM, go to 7, enter, set to defaults

If you like, fool around with the equation y=x² (a parabola opening upward where the lowest point is (0,0))

These procedures are for the TI-83 Plus. Other equivalent calculators should be very similar.


Storing & Recalling values:

It becomes convenient many times to set aside a value (store it), then recall it later in the calculation.

Follow the following procedure:

To Store a Value:

Press STO-> Alpha (blue), then press any button with a small blue letter, then press enter. Take note of where you stored that value so you can recall it later in your calculation.

To Recall a Value:

Press 2nd RCL, Alpha, then press the button where your value was stored, then press enter. Your value should appear on the screen ready to be used.